Cut-off and blast-regulator for grain, ore, and mineral separators.



No. 874,329. PATENTED' DEC! 17, 1907.

W. GRAY. cum-0P1" AND BLAST REGULATOR FOR GRAIN, ORE, AND MINERALSBPARATORS. APPLIUATION FILED 001'. 2a, 1906.

lm u d "III!- I I INVENTOI? WILLIAM GRAY ATTORNEYS F lllllllllllllll-WILLIAM GRAY, OF LINCOLN, NEBRASKA.

CUT-OFF AND BLAST-REGULATOR FOR GRAIN, ORE, AND MINERAL SEPARATORS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 17', 1907.

Application filed October 23, 1906. Serial No. 340.122.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM GRAY, a citizen of the United States, andresident of Lincoln, in the county of Lancaster and State of Nebraska,have invented a new Cut-Off and Blast-Regulator for Grain, Ore, andMineral Separators, of which the following is a specification.

Heretofore the air blast of such fans has been usually controlled bypartially closing the openings in the ends of the fan casing with slideboard or dampers.

In such use the entire force of the fan is drawing all the air receivedthrough two small openings, one at each end of the fan, thus producing apartial vacuum in the fan so that very strong currents of air enter thefan casing and encounter and resist each other at the center of the fan.Consequently the air blast is delivered with more force from the centerof the fan casing and spout than at the sides of the same, and therebyeffects very imperfect separation. It has been sought to avoid thisdefectivewperation and result by employing a curved segmental slide forregulating the size of the opening in the fan casing through which theair blast is delivered to the spout, but the means for adjusting andguiding the slide have been defective and unsatisfactory for severalreasons. I have devised a blast regulator which possesses all theadvantages without the defects and objecwith my improved blast reulator.

tions of the inventions before referred to.

The details of construction, arrangement, and operation are ashereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, inwhich Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a fan Fig. 2 is a verticalcross section on line 22 of Fig. 1.

Figs. 3 and 4 are views showing details hereinafter described. D

The fan box or casing A and fan B have no peculiarity of constructionand arrangement.

0 indicates the cut-off and blast regulator proper, D, D, the circularframe and rack bars to which it is attached, and E, E, pinions meshingwith the racks, andF a shaft upon which the pinions are keyed.

The cut-off or blast regulator proper C, is

' formed of sheet metal, preferably of galvanized iron, and the same iscurved concentrically with the axis of the fan B. Its side edges arebent inward as indicatedin Fig. 2, and overlap the outer sidesof thecircular rack bars D, to which such flanges are permanently secured,preferably by soldering. The plate 0 extends nearly half way round thecircumference of the bars D. The under portions of the latter areprovided with teeth constituting the racks proper with which pinions Emesh as shown. The said pinions are secured upon a transverse shaft Fwhich is ournaled in the fan box or casing A and provided at oneend'with a crank The circular rack bars D and the plate C attachedthereto are supported upon the said pinions and also by idler rollers Gwhich are mounted on journals fixed in the sides of the casing A. Thesesupports E, G, are so arranged that the plate C is always held in aposition concentric with the axis of the fan. The pinions thus perform adouble function, namely, supporting the blast regulator at one point andalso serving as means, when the crank shaft F is rotated, for shiftingthe cut-off proper C circularly around the fan so as to out off the airor blast delivered from the fan.

In other words by adjustment of the plate C,

the mouth of the spout into which the air from the fan discharges may becontracted more or less and yet the blast will remain perfectly evenacross the entire width of the mouth or opening so that the separationof the grain or other material operated upon is correspondingly even oruniform.

As indicated in Fig. -3 the lower corners of the plate or blastregulator proper G, are notched or cut away to allow space for theidlers G in case the plate should be adjusted downward as far as saididlers.

In order to prevent accidental movement of the blast regulator, afterhaving been adjusted to any required position, a friction brake may beapplied to the pinion shaft E, the same consisting, as shown in Figs. 1and 4, of a screw threaded bolt H having a threaded portion working in anut h attached to the outer side of the casing A and provided with wingsh whereby it may be rotated. The inner end of the bolt H is arrangedcontiguous to the shaft F, and may be screwed into contact with it, aswill be readily understood.

It will be seen that by use of the racks and pinions, the cut-off C maybe adjusted to a small fraction of an inch, so as to regulate the airblast to a nicety; also, that by supporting the cut-off by the meansshown, there is no perceptible friction, nor any danger of binding byfriction as would be the case if the plate was held slidably in groovedside guides.

My invention is applicable for separators 5 for grain, ore, minerals,seeds and cereals,

andin brief for a great variety of granular or pulverulent material.

I claim:

1. The combination with the fan, the fan casing and spout attachedthereto, of the cutoff and blast regulator comprising the curved plate,circular parallel rack bars to which said plate is attached, a rotaryshaft and pinions thereon meshing with the rack bars, and idler rollerswhich together with the pinions furnish supports for the cut-off andregulator, substantially as described.

7 2. The combination with the fan, the fan casing and spout attachedthereto, of a cutoff and blast regulator, comprising a plate curvedconcentrically with the axis of the pinions whereby the cut-0H may beadjusted as required, substantially as described.

3. The combination with the spout, fan, fan casing and the rotarycut-off arranged in the casing, and including circular rack bars, ofpinions meshing with the racks, a rotary shaft on which the pinions aremounted, and a friction brake, the same consisting of a rotary threadedbolt, and a nut secured to the casing, the inner end of the bolt beingarranged for contact with the shafts, substantially as described.

WILLIAM GRAY. Witnesses:

SoLoN O. KEMoN, AMos W. HART.

